Weekend

The past 72 hours couldn't not be shared with you. I've reached outside of my comfort zone, gone to new places and I've managed to spend time with almost every person in my life who is special to me. Here's a recap.

Friday

h&8th, Waffle Champion, Speakeasy

Shopping at Dry/Shop, chicken and waffles: one of the best things I have ever had

These people keep my life fun

Saturday

Blue Seven's birthday, a walk by the lake

Blue Seven's eleventh birthday: giveaways, pet adoptions, food trucks

Got a killer deal on a new wallet

Sunday

Open Streets OKC

My first experience at Tuckers: I may or may not have a heart attack later but it was worth it

My dear friend Taylor and my chubby right hand

Little corners

In the apartment I share with my roommate, Sommer, I kind of took over the decorating part (which she was totally okay with) and since moving here last August I have really loved living here.

Our apartment complex has a park-like feel and I love having the windows open and letting the sunlight and spring breeze flow through our place. Below are my favorite little corners of my humble abode.

My bedroom: canvases I painted when I moved into my first apartment, family pictures, pine cones brought home from Colorado, Libra notepad and pencil

In-between dining and living: vintage side table, envelope box and blanket, my mantra "good vibes only," deer shed brought home from Colorado

Dining area: my two favorite candles, Vera Bradley napkins brought home from Florida, flowers from my sweet boss

How to: Radiant Orchid

I know you've seen it everywhere, and I may be a little late on this post, but--Radiant Orchid is the Pantone Color of the Year 2014.

There are so many different variations of the color and ways to work it into your wardrobe, and I'm planning on doing so with my accessories or swimwear! I'm not typically a super bright dresser, but a Radiant Orchid shoe or bikini will do just fine. (Men, show your trendy side with a great RO tie, socks or pocket square!)

Below are my picks for on-trend accessories!

1. Suede sandals
2. Signature necklace (it's actually your own signature!)
3. Bikini
4. iPhone case
5. Floral clutch

Thursday Three

I skipped Thursday Three last week (I was on Spring Break and had a girl's day with my mom) but don't fret-it's not going anywhere!

First: Tattoo craze

Are you like me and you're too scared of the commitment of a real life tattoo? Tattly.com has awesome temporary tattoos! I've been waiting to try these out for warm weather (so I can show it off, duh) and now that consistent warmth is in Oklahoma's near future I'm excited to try them out!
















Second: Pre-loved

Walk in my Closet, "your luxury consignment destination," is pretty cool. If you're looking for something that's a big name for a smaller price, check out this website! Loubiton, Chanel, Hermes, oh my.




















Third: DIY

It's no secret that I love a good project... this tutorial for macrame dreamers from A Pair & A Spare is just, well, dreamy.

Spotlight: Blue Moon Cafe

This past week, I spent a couple of full days in the Tulsa area and got to spend a short morning before returning back to OKC in Brookside, one of my favorite areas in Tulsa, but I'm usually there at night so I wanted to check out the daytime scene.

I used my Keep It Local app to find Blue Moon Bakery and Cafe (10% off!) and as I walked in, the atmosphere was perfect. If it were a nice day, I would've opted to sit outside on Blue Moon's adorable patio, but I decided to snag a table inside between two older singles dining. It was refreshing to see that people still like to eat alone.

While examining my view, I noticed the store across the way offers free yoga on Sunday mornings!

At first, I ordered oatmeal. I put too much brown sugar in it. Fail.
After that, I decided to get something a little more hearty.
You can download their menus here.

My second meal of choice: one whole wheat pancake and two strips of bacon, and it was delicious

Overall, I'm excited to go back and try more things not only on the breakfast menu but the lunch and dinner menus as well. Any time you're in Brookside on a nice day, head over to Blue Moon and have breakfast on the patio!

3 ingredient cookies

I want to start cooking with protein powder, and I decided to try out Tone It Up's 3 Ingredient Cookie recipe with some vanilla powder I just bought at Walgreens. This is my trial powder-as I move along in my protein cooking skills, I will splurge a little more on better stuff! 

I really want to try Perfect Fit, but for the time being I am using EAS soy protein in vanilla. I get a lot of my recipes (and daily workouts!) on toneitup.com, if you haven't checked it out, I highly recommend it!

3 ingredient cookies

Base:

2 ripe medium bananas

1 c. rolled oats

1 scoop vanilla protein powder

(I added dark chocolate chips to mine, but you can add whatever you want as a topping, i.e. walnuts, raisins, dried cranberries, almonds, etc. and you can even throw in a little cinnamon or vanilla extract!)

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Mash up bananas with a fork, then add protein. After that is mixed well, throw in your oats and whatever topping you want to add. Depending on how ripe your bananas are, you may need to either add a little almond milk or throw in a little more powder to get the right consistency.

Spoon the dough onto a sprayed or foiled cookie sheet and press down lightly so that cookies are semi-flat, (this will help them cook thoroughly!) Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

These cookies are way more rich than I was expecting (score!) and SO good!!! I don't think I'll ever go back to the traditional bad-for-you version of chocolate chip cookies! Enjoy!

My week in squares

Babysitting cute triplets

A sweet Snapchat from my BFF pourin' one out for me on the beach. Champs, of course

My angel baby, Ellie, after a clean shaving

Girl's day with my wonderful mom: mani-pedi, coffee, and shopping at Utica

Breakfast in Brookside before heading home

Comfy on my way back to OKC

Baked maple blueberry oatmeal

Considering the last recipe I posted, you're probably under the impression that I'm not extremely health-conscious.

Well, besides the fact that I ate almost all of those rolls I am a quite healthy eater on a daily basis. Now, I'm not eating kale all day long, but I consider my diet to be quite alright. This morning it's gloomy and chilly outside and a perfect day for this baked oatmeal recipe I found on A Cup of Jo a few days ago. I modified a couple of the ingredients, here's my version!

Baked Maple Blueberry Oatmeal
Yields 6  servings as a main dish, 12 as a side dish.
Ingredients:
2 cups rolled oats
1 cup pecans, toasted and chopped
1/4-1/3 cup 100% pure maple syrup
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. lite salt
2 1/4 cups vanilla unsweetened almond milk
1 large organic egg
3 tbsp. organic coconut oil, melted
2 cups fresh blueberries

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375F, spray the inside of a 9-inch round baking dish with organic olive oil cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine the oats, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. In a smaller bowl, whisk together maple syrup, milk and egg.

Spread half of the oat mixture in the baking dish. Top it with half of the pecans and blueberries, then add the rest of the oats on top. Gently pour the milk mixture over the oats and shake the dish a bit so the ingredients settle. Scatter the rest of the berries and pecans on the top and drizzle with melted coconut oil.

Bake for 35-45 minutes until the top is golden and the oats have set. Serve warm with additional maple syrup or butter if desired.

Sidenote: toasting your pecans
Spray a cooking sheet with the same cooking spray mentioned earlier. Spread your pecans evenly on the pan and pop in the oven at 350 for about 5 minutes, until aromatic. Watch and smell carefully as pecans burn easily! Chop into smaller pieces for this recipe.

Thursday Three

First: Jimmy Fallon and Jon Hamm

When I saw this on A Cup of Jo, a blog I follow, I knew I had to share it on mine as well! Jimmy Fallon and Jon Hamm did a segment for The Tonight Show of them photobombing tourists on the Top of the Rock in NYC. This is totally my humor and I laughed out loud. Watch below!

Second: Fresh

My mom's birthday was on the 27th, but she came up last Saturday for her birthday dinner. That day, I made a quick drive up to Dutch Floral & Home in OKC and got some cash and carry blooms to take to dinner. (My arrangement is on the top right) I'm planning on going back this weekend to grab some more for my apartment!
















Third: Weddings

A friend of mine is getting married on Saturday and, while I do NOT have wedding fever, I am excited to go and I've been thinking "wedding" all week. This post by Desiree Hartsock highlights a desert wedding and I'm obsessed.

Spring wish list

Warm weather in OKC has me thinking about my spring wardrobe wish list. Here are a few of my faves!

1. Denim smock dress
2. Leopard trainers
3. Linen wide-legs
4. Dungarees
5. Scarf-hem tank
6. Tomboy shorts
7.Spikes and pyramids
8. Peony lips

Thursday Three

First: Adele Dazeem

Okay, we all know about John Travolta mispronouncing singer Idina Menzel's name as "Adele Dazeem" (if you haven't seen it, click here! It's hilarious. Skip to 1:01 to go straight to the clip) and I'm sure you've also seen the multiple ways you can "Travolt-ify" your name. From now on, you can call me Kenzie Marsheem. Find out yours here!






Second: Reuse

Today, I bought my first reusable cup from Starbucks. It's top rack dishwasher safe, microwaveable (remove the lid first, though!) BPA free and recyclable in some areas. And the best part... it's only a dollar. So basically you have no excuse not to help your earth! Also, I don't know if you've noticed, but reusable coffee cups like these are usually pricey. Stock up on a few of these and you're set.






Third: Laid back vibes

Lately, I've been feeling a beachy vibe not only within myself but in my wardrobe. I recently bought a pair of distressed denim skinnies (yes, just like what we wore in high school minus the flare bottoms) and I love them. Paired with messy, wavy tresses and a loose tee, I feel super relaxed and more like myself! How do you show it when you're feeling laid back?

Oscar trends

I've been saving watching the actual Oscars for a watch party my friends and I are having this week, but I did watch the red carpet and I have to say... everyone looked stunning. I don't feel like anyone did terribly wrong this year... surprisingly, I loved almost everything that I saw. With that being said, however, I don't feel like there were enough risks being taken! Obviously there were a couple plunging necklines, etc. but there were very clear trends and mostly everyone stuck to classic silhouettes. You can never go wrong with classic, but I do have to say I wish I would have seen at least a couple of fashion gone wrong but that's why we like it moments.

But as usual, every woman looked beautiful, every man looked sharp and Jared Leto is still as gorgeous as ever. My favorites? Lupita Nyong'o in Prada, Emma Watson in Vera Wang, Kate Hudson in Altelier Versace, and Jennifer Lawrence in Dior Haute Couture.

Oscar 2014 trends

nude metallic

(my favorite) classic black

white/cream

navy

one pop of color

Obsession

Okay, for those of you who know me at all, you know about my unhealthy (quite literally) obsession with Texas Roadhouse rolls and cinnamon butter.

And on this fateful day... I figured out that I could make them from scratch. At my own house. In my PJ's. I'm also thinking this is serious trouble for my waistline.

I have been really scared of making anything bread related for forever now. Either they turn out really dry, rock hard or just don't rise at all and I don't even try to put them in the oven! However, with the ice storm happening outside today and all the ingredients already in my kitchen, I thought "what the heck." And it actually worked... really really well. Again, trouble.

For the rolls (about 2 dozen):
1 package active dry yeast (about 2 1/4 tsp.)
1/4 c. warm water
1 c. milk, scalded and cooled to lukewarm
1 1/2 tbs. melted butter, slightly cooled
1/4 c. sugar
4 c. flour
1 egg
1 tsp. salt

For the cinnamon butter (about 1/2 cup):
1 stick butter (salted or unsalted) at about room temp.
1/4 c. powdered sugar
1/4 c. honey
1 tsp. ground cinnamon


Rolls: Dissolve yeast in warm water with a teaspoon of sugar by stirring until dissolved. In a medium bowl, add yeast, milk, sugar and 3 c. flour to make a medium batter. Mix thoroughly. Let stand until light and foamy. Add melted butter, eggs and salt. Beat well.

Add your last cup of flour to form a soft dough. Sprinkle a small amount of flour onto counter and let dough rest. Meanwhile, grease a large bowl. Knead dough until smooth, then transfer into large bowl. Turn over a few times to grease the ball of dough. Lightly cover with saran wrap and let rise until double in size. Punch down. Flatten your dough on the lightly floured surface. With a knife, cut dough into portions, let rest, then shape dough into desired forms and place on two greased baking sheets. Let rise until doubled in size (about 45 minutes.)

Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes (depending on the size of your rolls, my smaller ones took 10, larger took 15) until golden brown. Immediately baste with butter and enjoy!!!

Butter: With an electric mixer, beat the stick of butter until light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar, honey and cinnamon and beat well until combined and has whipped look. Cover and refrigerate for up to five days.